US DOJ cracks San Bernardino shooter's iPhone

The U.S. government has managed to access the iPhone used by San
Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook, bypassing a passcode that had the
FBI stymied for several weeks.

"The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on
Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from
Apple," the Department of Justice said in a court filing on Monday.

The filing didn’t detail the method used to access the phone, but
U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement that it had been
accomplished with the help of a third party.

The DOJ had been attempting to force Apple to write software that
would help it unlock the phone, but last week the DOJ asked that the
case be put on hold pending investigation of a possible workaround.

The government needed Apple’s help because of a security function
designed to prevent multiple, successive attempts to guess the passcode.
A string of failed attempts would have resulted in the phone’s memory
being wiped clean.

Apple had vehemently rejected the FBI’s call for help, despite a
court order compelling it to do so, saying it would amount to a backdoor
into the operating system that would weaken iPhone security for all
users.

The two were preparing to argue their case in front of a judge last
Monday when the DOJ called for the pause. Now the government is asking
for the order against Apple to be dropped because it’s no longer needed.

"Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact
that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to
unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone,"
Decker said in the statement.

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